Rochester Writers Workshop

Listen up to hear how screenwriters feel about the hot new animated film from Netflix. Writers/Blockbusters is a podcast where the hosts watch movies and discuss the screenwriting/storytelling tricks/tips that they represent. According to co-host Jamie Nash, this episode might just be the greatest. Check it out:

https://thundergrunt.com/e/writersblockbusters-061-the-mitchells-vs-the-machines/

Here’s an article from author Diane Duane about outlining. She learned the discipline of outlining when working in television, where they were a mandatory part of the process of writing. Stories were worked out in writers’ rooms, and although an individual writer would be tasked with drafting each episode. that writer wouldn’t be permitted to just submit a script that hadn’t been through an approval process.

Diane now uses a similar outline approach in writing her novels. Find out more at
https://www.dianeduane.com/outofambit/2020/07/25/outlining-one-writers-approach/

Godzilla Vs. Kong had some of the most beautiful kaiju fights I’ve ever seen. It also had the most plot hand-waving I can remember. The movie itself had five credited writers, but I found an interview with just one of them. Watch as Mr. Borenstein defends the script for 15 minutes!

https://lrmonline.com/news/max-borenstein-interview/

Where do you set your film’s climax? The worst place in the world.

Here’s a terrific new video addendum to Michael Arndt’s lecture on writing movie endings.

Watch it on vimeo at https://vimeo.com/434863349

See the original video at pandemoniuminc.com

Here’s an article from Scriptmag about writing with subtext in mind. For example to get across a character’s emotional state, instead of saying “He is stunned,” try “The air rushes out of his lungs.” Describe specific actions, then let the reader (and actor) interpret the state of mind.

More examples at https://scriptmag.com/screenplays/shh-subtext-the-powerful-sound-of-show-not-tell

(Scroll past the first part about teaching to get to the parts about subtext.)

The Script Lab uses lyrics from Team America’s awesome montage song to explain the hows and whys of using montage segments in your screenplays. Check out the article here.

Here’s a good article on scene headings over at ScriptMag.com, and all the ways they can be done right and wrong. Dr. Format explains it well!

https://scriptmag.com/screenplays/ask-dr-format-a-crash-course-in-scene-headings

In this double episode of The Moment, host Brian Koppelman talks to two acclaimed writers Tony Gilroy and Scott Frank about writing, their careers, and William Goldman. 

The Moment with Brian Koppelman
https://www.stitcher.com/podcast/slate/the-moment-with-brian-koppelman/e/57422291

I especially enjoyed hearing Gilroy talk about the “horse” scene from his script for Michael Clayton. 

EXT. THE FIELD — DAWN

MICHAEL getting out of the car. Standing there.

THREE HORSES poised at the crest of the pasture. Hanging there in the fog like ghosts.

MICHAEL jumping the fence. Walking slowly into the field. Behind him, the MERCEDES with the engine running.

THE HORSES aware of him now. Watching him come.

MICHAEL’S FACE as he walks. And later on we’ll understand all the forces roiling inside him, but for the moment, the simplest thing to say is that this is a man who needs more than anything to see one pure, natural thing, and by some miracle has found his way to this place. The wet grass and cold air and no coat — none of it makes any difference to him right now — he’s a pilgrim stumbling into the cathedral.

And he stops. Just standing there. Empty. Open. Lost.

Nothing but the field and the fog and the woods beyond.

THE HORSES staring at him.

MICHAEL staring back. And just like that…

THE MERCEDES EXPLODES!

It’s not traditional, but slowing down the flow of the screenplay to focus on Michael’s internal state helped to indicate to the production crew just how important this moment should be when filmed and edited. And it’s a standout scene in the final film. 

See the full script at 
https://indiegroundfilms.files.wordpress.com/2014/01/michael-clayton-feb11-06-final-shooting.pdf